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Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) Volume 17. Number 1, March 2026 Pp.397-412
1Department of English, Koneru Lakshmaiah Education Foundation,
2Department of English, Sri Vasavi Engineering College, Tadepalligudem, Andhra Pradesh, India Vaddeswaram, Andhra Pradesh, India
Department of English, Koneru Lakshmaiah Education Foundation, Vaddeswaram, Andhra Pradesh, India
Department of English, Velagapudi Ramakrishna Siddhartha School of Engineering, Siddhartha Academy of Higher Education (Deemed to be University), Vijayawada-520007, Andhra Pradesh, India
College of Science and Humanities, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia,
1Research Scholar, Department of English, Velagapudi Ramakrishna Siddhartha School of Engineering, Siddhartha Academy of Higher Education (Deemed to be University), Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India
2Department of English, Sri Vasavi Engineering College, Tadepalligudem, Andhra Pradesh, India
This research explores how technology-mediated role plays improve students’ English-speaking skills, addressing the limited interactive speaking practice in their engineering education by optimising Google Gemini to stimulate real-life role-play scenarios, and thus contributing to innovative digital language learning approaches. Considering the dearth of interactive speaking practice, this research was conducted to enhance the speaking skills of engineering students through role-plays, leveraging Gemini 2.5 Flash, given the increasing importance of speaking skills in both academia and industry in engineering. It was an interventional, longitudinal and quantitative classroom study conducted over 21 weeks, following the Pretest-Posttest Control Group Design. In this study, 36 first-year engineering students, all aged 18, were selected as participants using convenience sampling. Then, the researchers administered a pretest, consisting of role plays in a conventional mode, to form the research groups: Interventional Group (IG) and Non-interventional Group (NG), based on the pretest scores using the speaking assessment rubric of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). After the bifurcation of groups, the IG utilised Gemini 2.5 Flash to practise their role plays with the Artificial Intelligence partners and have their role plays assessed according to the CEFR-aligned assessment, along with their practice of role plays in a conventional mode, on par with the NG, which was constrained only to conventional role-play practice. Thus, the IG practised their speaking in a blended learning framework, unlike the NG. Post-intervention, the posttest findings were statistically evaluated and indicated a significant improvement in the IG, as the Test Statistic (i.e., Calculated t = 24.05) exceeded the tabulated t (1.734) at the 0.05 level of significance with n-1 degrees of freedom, supporting the effectiveness of the intervention.
Manipatruni, V. R., Rajeswari, T.S., Kumar, N. S., Karim, M. R. & Chundru, T. (2026). Enhancing Engineering Students’ English-Speaking Skills via Role-plays through Google Gemini 2.5 Flash in Practice and CEFR in Assessment in a Blended Learning Modality. Arab World English Journal, 17(1):397-412
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Venkata Ramana Manipatruni Research Scholar, Koneru Lakshmaiah Education Foundation, Vaddeswaram and the Head of the Department of English, Sri Vasavi Engineering College, Tadepalligudem, India. Specialized in ELT.
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7809-9053
Dr. T.S. Rajeswari Assistant Professor of English, Koneru Lakshmaiah Education Foundation, Vaddeswaram, India. Specialized in Language and Literature. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3732-8224
Dr. Nannapaneni Siva Kumar Senior Assistant Professor of English, Velagapudi Ramakrishna Siddhartha School of Engineering, Siddhartha Academy of Higher Education (Deemed to be University), Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India. Specialized in ELT and Soft skills. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5951-6306
Dr. Mohammad Rezaul Karim Associate Professor of English, College of Science and Humanities, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia. Specialized in Language and Literature. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8178-8260
Tanuja Chundru Research Scholar, Siddhartha Academy of Higher Education (Deemed to be University), Vijayawada and Senior Assistant Professor of English, Sri Vasavi Engineering College, Tadepalligudem, India. Specialized in ELT.
https://orcid.org/0009-0009-7113-2397